Page 27 of Teach Me How To Fly

I caressed her right cheek with my thumb, content to just touch her lower lip.

“I’ll figure this out, Annalise. Just don’t push me away,” I lowered my voice, placing another kiss on her forehead.

“It hurts. It really does fucking hurt,” she blubbered and it shocked me that she was swearing.

“It won’t hurt soon,” I replied and closed my eyes as I pressed my forehead on hers.

We kept standing like that for a few more moments until she stepped away from me. With slow movements, she wiped off the tears from her face and made sure to fix the t-shirt she was wearing.

I never saw her dressed so carelessly and with her hair not put in the perfect place, but she was even more beautiful now.

She was natural, vulnerable, and mine.

Mine.

She was being herself and I loved every piece of her.

What the fuck did I just say?

I shook my head and licked my lips, then I searched my pocket for the phone I was prepared to give to Annalise.

Lukyan told me this morning about our conversation last night and he threatened me again to not speak with Annalise or I’ll face the consequences.

However, I couldn’t listen to him, so I bought Annalise aVertuphone on which he would not be able to track or see what she’d be doing on it.

I pulled the phone out and turned it on, then I made sure it was connected to the right phone service to be functional.

“What is that?” she asked me carefully and I felt her curious gaze wandering on me.

“This is going to be your new phone,” I explained and inhaled deeply. “Your father found out about our conversation last night, so I thought you should have a phone no one could track. You can call me, text me, or do whatever you want to do on it and no one will know instead of you,” I added and I saw her face immediately light up.

“Are you serious?” she asked in awe.

“Yes, I am. It’s yours.”

I put the phone in her little hand and I saw the happiness creeping on her face. She was so surprised by it that she almost jumped on her feet. And I was more than happy that I managed to make her feel better after I ruined the first half of her day.

“Thank you so much, Maksen! Oh, God! Now I can finally get a taste of normality!” she chimed, analyzing the phone in her hands.

A sincere smile came on my face at the sight of her smiling again and in that moment I knew that my purpose was to make her happy.

Just as I made sure to let her win at every game we used to play when we were children.

“I have to go now. I’ll text you while I’m on vacation. Please, don’t hesitate to call me or text me whenever you feel the need to, okay?” I murmured and put my hands into my pockets.

“Okay. Don’t have too much fun with Katya.”

Her demand made me giggle before I turned on my heels and walked away from her.

I wasn’t going to have any fun with that little prick because I hated her the most when we were little. She had always wanted to be with me and Annalise, always wanted to play with our toys, and always broke everything she touched.

Now that she was all grown up, she became this brat, hungry for popularity and attention and in constant need of affirmation by doing alcohol, drugs, and parties where she was getting fucked by the most famous celebrities in the city. But that was just a facade to hide the fact that she was in a relationship with a woman — this information was the ace under my sleeve to make her do what I wanted her to do.

But that wasn’t why I hated her so much. The main reason was the way she behaved with Annalise. And I carried hatred for every human that wronged her in any way.

I entered the house and the moment I walked in, I heard Katya and Lukyan’s voices coming from upstairs. I ran my fingers through my hair, and then I made my way to the stairs, walking up them.

Katya’s red hair caught my attention as I got closer to them, and the moment she noticed my presence, she turned around with a large smile on her face.

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